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(July 26, 2019- York, PA): The York Revolution used a seven-run seventh inning punctuated by a dramatic Henry Castillo grand slam to complete an epic comeback on Friday night against the New Britain Bees, winning the series opener 11-10 at PeoplesBank Park. Coming back from down six at one point, it marked the Revs’ biggest comeback since late in the 2016 season.

Corey Walter got the start for York and ran into trouble in the top of the first inning. After getting Darren Ford to ground out to start the game, Zach Collier drove an inside-the-park home run off the top of the wall in right-center field to give the Bees an early 1-0 lead.

The Bees offense struck again in the top of the second. Jonathan Galvez and Mike Carp singled to set the table. Logan Moore followed by blasting a three-run home run to right-center field to push the lead to 4-0. New Britain added another run on a Joe Poletsky RBI double to left-center making it 5-0 after two.

After Walter rebounded to work a scoreless top of the third inning, the Revs broke up the shutout in their half of the frame on a Justin Trapp RBI single to center to cut the lead to 5-1.

The Bees loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth. After Moore scored on a wild pitch, Bijan Rademacher hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Rando Moreno and extend the lead to 7-1.

The Revs responded to the pair of Bees runs by adding three in the bottom of the fourth. Telvin Nash started off the frame by working his second walk of the game. Isaias Tejeda smashed his franchise record-breaking 12th home run of July over the Arch Nemesis in left to cut the lead to 7-3. Welington Dotel lined a one-out single to center to keep the offense going. After Castillo doubled to right field to put runners on second and third with just one away. Angelys Nina got the job done by grounding out to Galvez at second, scoring Dotel and cutting the lead to 7-4.

The Bees loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fifth inning, but Cesar Cabral entered from the bullpen and immediately induced an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

New Britain continued to be pesky, as they tacked on a run in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Galvez, growing the lead to 8-4.

After Bees reliever Sam Gervacio worked two perfect innings in relief of starter Akeel Morris, the Revs offense delivered their biggest inning of the season in the bottom of the seventh. Nina started off the frame by singling off of new pitcher Tyler Danish. Ryan Dent doubled to put runners on second and third with no out. Trapp lined a sacrifice fly to deep center to score Nina, move Dent to third, and cut the lead to 8-5. After Melky Mesa walked, Nash tapped an RBI ground out to third to bring the Revs within two at 8-6. Tejeda walked and Franco singled to load the bases. Bees manager Mauro Gozzo brought in Jose Rosario to try to work out of the jam. Dotel greeted the Bees righty by singling to right, slashing the lead to 8-7. Castillo followed by crushing his grand slam to left-center, the Revs’ second in as many games, to give York its first lead of the game in dramatic, exhilarating fashion at 11-7. Rosario hit Nina with a pitch in the ribs immediately after, inciting a bench-clearing spat at the pitchers mound. Rosario was ejected on the play.

Rob Carson started the top of the eighth inning and was ejected when he hit Rademacher with the first pitch. Revs manager Mark Mason was also ejected as the benches had been warned the previous inning. Josh Judy came in and walked Jason Rogers before allowing a single to Galvez that loaded the bases with no outs. After Judy hit Carp with a pitch to force in a run and cut the lead to 11-9, pitching coach Paul Fletcher who took over as manager after Mason’s ejection turned to All-Star closer Jameson McGrane to nail down a six-out save. McGrane started his great escape by striking out Moore for out number one. The York right-hander got the second out on a sacrifice fly from Moreno that moved the score to 11-10. Jared James was called upon to pinch hit and beat out an infield single to short, but Galvez tried to score from second on the play and was thrown out at the plate by Franco, preserving the one-run lead.

McGrane came back out for the ninth and worked a perfect inning, nailing down his 10th save of the year and giving the Revs a 1-0 series lead.

“It’s awesome,” said McGrane of the team’s emotional triumph. “Most of the season we’ve had some problems with New Britain. They seem to be more of our rivals than our actual rivals so it’s good. It was a good game. We fought hard. Some guys did their jobs even though they got tossed, that’s just how baseball works.”

“Everybody feels good about how we’re playing. We just have to keep it rolling. Especially with trying to win the second half and get to the playoffs. We just have to stay within ourselves and do whatever we can to win, whether it’s scrappy or a beatdown, it doesn’t matter.”

Recap by Brett Pietrzak

Notes: Collier’s inside-the-park home run is the third in PeoplesBank Park history and first by an opponent; the last came from former Revs catcher Luis Cruz (May 1, 2018). It is the fourth all-time allowed by the Revs and first since Long Island’s Delta Cleary, Jr. pulled the trick in August, 2017. Tejeda’s 12 home runs have all come in the last 18 games, giving him a new franchise record for a single month. The Revs’ six-run comeback is their biggest since tying a club record with a seven-run comeback vs. New Britain in a 10-8 win on August 8, 2016. The seven-run inning is the Revs’ biggest since a seven-run frame on September 5, 2018 vs. the Road Warriors. The Revs had gone over a year without a grand slam before clubbing slams in each of the last two games. York has won seven straight against New Britain, improving to 9-5 head-to-head on the season (6-1 at home). The Revs maintain a half game lead for first place in the second half at 10-4. The Revs improve to 8-1 in their last nine one-run games, and 11-2 in their last 13 series openers.